Chapter 173: Clang. Clang. Clang.

The concepts of day and night held no meaning within the pocket dimension. Without a sun or moon, Zac’s only anchor to time was the occasional glimpse of the VSB.

By the end of the first day, Zac had lost count of how many times Azryx had entered and left the Starfire furnace.

By the second day, the crude mass no longer looked completely shapeless. A length had begun to form, unmistakably moving toward the shape of a blade.

Zac spent most of his time either feeding Siegfried with mana or sitting beside a pile of crystals, replenishing what had been drained from him.

He had expected Siegfried to take a rest every now and then so that he could rest as well. But, much to his disappointment, sleeping and resting apparently weren’t in the old smith’s vocabulary.

For more than two days, the only thing Zac heard was

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Even when his body became so exhausted that he unknowingly closed his eyes, the sound of the hammering jolted him awake almost instantly.

[Trust me, you’re going to hear that sound even in your dreams over the next few days.]

"It’s already ringing in my ears even when he’s not hammering."

***

Far away from the pocket dimension where the forging was taking place, another pocket dimension was experiencing a very different kind of torment.

Life at New Dawn Academy continued as cruelly as ever.

"Again," Simon’s voice thundered across the training field, shattering the brief silence that had settled over the exhausted students.

"Uggghhh...aaawwwwooouuuugh..."

The collective groans that followed rolled across the field. But nobody dared to make them too loud, because they had learned that complaining within Simon’s hearing range was essentially an invitation for even more training.

The first-year students were sparring against one another with gravity bracelets strapped around their wrists. And, naturally, Simon had decided that three times normal gravity was not nearly miserable enough.

Marty was currently on his knees, trying to remember what it felt like to live without his own body trying to crush him.

"He doesn’t want to see us happy, does he?"

"Save your breath and stand up," Daniel said. "If he sees you taking a break, he’ll punish both of us. Me for letting you rest, and you for resting."

"Oh, come on! Can’t you let me rest for a moment?" Marty looked at Daniel with genuine disbelief. "You may be a training maniac, but I’m just a normal human."

Daniel ignored him. Marty, however, had no intention of giving up. His gaze wandered across the field until he spotted Shobin and Kelly sparring nearby.

He pointed toward Shobin. "Hey, nerd, aren’t you a martial artist? Why are you sweating so much?"

"That’s enough, Marty," Daniel said. He pointed toward another part of the field. "Look. Even the girls are training harder than you."

Marty followed his finger and saw Sabrina.

She was training alone under four times gravity, calmly practicing with her lean, thin sword.

Marty stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.

"That’s not a girl."

He pointed toward Kelly and said, "See this? This is a girl."

"That’s a monster."

The moment the words left his mouth, Sabrina slowly turned her head, and her eyes landed directly on Marty.

Avoiding her glare, he immediately stood up straight and looked away from her. "Okay, let’s train again," he said to Daniel.

Daniel shook his head in exasperation.

Before they could resume, another voice thundered across the field. "Williams!"

Marty instantly snapped into attention, standing straight like a soldier. "Yes, sir!"

Simon’s voice followed. "If you have enough energy to gossip, why don’t I increase your gravity level by another level?"

Marty’s expression stiffened in horror. "No, sir! I’m just crouching and experimenting to see whether I could fight in this position, sir."

He immediately added, "Let me start sparring again, sir."

Without giving Simon any further opportunity to question him, Marty hurriedly turned around and resumed sparring with Daniel.

By the time the training finally came to an end, many of the students collapsed where they stood, like dolls whose batteries had suddenly been ripped out.

Marty fell flat on his back and stared blankly at the sky. "I see heaven."

Adrian walked over and looked down at him. "I promise you, heaven is not for the likes of you. It’s already reserved for elegant people like myself."

Marty turned his head slightly. "If heaven is filled with people like you, I’m getting my ticket to hell right now."

Kelly dropped onto the grass nearby and let out a tired sigh. "I thought now that we’ve stopped doing physical training and started sparring, things would be easier than before. Who would’ve thought Sir Simon would increase the gravity on our bracelets?"

Apparently, that assumption had aged rather poorly.

Before anyone could continue complaining, Matilda entered the training ground and walked toward the students, eventually stopping beside Simon.

The sight immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Daniel frowned. "Now, what could this be?"

Almost simultaneously, the entire group turned toward Shobin.

Shobin immediately raised his hands. "Don’t look at me. I don’t know. There was nothing special going on yesterday, so I’m just as clueless as all of you."

"If even you don’t know, then I think it’s really going to be something special," Marty said.

Everyone turned toward Matilda, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"Listen here, students. This will be your final week of basic training. I hope you’ve all done well and learned the new skills and techniques you obtained from the academy’s archives."

She glanced toward Simon, seemingly seeking confirmation.

Simon nodded. "They’re passable."

Matilda turned back toward the students. "From next week onward, you’ll gain access to the mission hall and be allowed to choose academy missions to begin earning merits."

Marty’s eyes immediately lit up. "Don’t celebrate yet," Daniel admonished.

"Missions aren’t your vacation," Matilda continued. "They serve multiple purposes. Besides giving you experience in the outside world, successfully completing missions and earning merit points will not only contribute to your personal reputation, but depending on what you accomplish, they can also increase the prestige of our academy itself."

The expressions of many students brightened at once. After all, who didn’t want to build a reputation and become famous?

Matilda’s expression, however, grew slightly more serious.

"But let me warn you. Don’t become too greedy. This will be your first time selecting a mission for yourselves, so choose something appropriate for your current strength. Don’t bite off more than you can chew simply because the reward looks attractive."

"There is a fair chance that you may never return to the academy if you involve yourselves in something far beyond your ability."

Her gaze swept across the students. "Outside these walls, there won’t be anyone, not me or Sir Simon, to pour water into your mouth so that you can swallow what you’ve bitten off."

"I wouldn’t save them anyway," Simon said from a distance.

("...")

("...")

("...")

("...")

"See? He doesn’t like us at all," Marty murmured to Daniel.

"I don’t think he likes anyone. Not even a ravishing person like me." Adrien commented.

"Anyway, that’s it. You may all go now," Matilda said.

She had barely finished speaking when Marty suddenly raised his hand. Matilda stopped and looked at him. "Yes? What is it?"

"Miss Matilda, Zac is still on leave."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You think I don’t know that one of my students is missing, Marty?"

"No, ma’am. I was just asking."

"You don’t need to worry about him. He is his own person. Besides, his leave only extends through this week. He’ll be back next week."

She paused briefly before adding, "And you still have training tomorrow, don’t you?"

Marty’s face fell, and so did everyone else’s. "Yes, ma’am."

"Then worry about surviving that."

She turned slightly before adding, "I hope Sir Simon won’t increase the gravity even further so that you can survive. It might improve your chances of survival once you’re outside."

The students fell silent, and deep down, every single one of them was cursing Matilda for giving Simon another idea.

Once Matilda turned around and walked away, speaking with Simon about something as they left, the remaining group of seven gathered together again, with Zac being the only one absent.

Daniel asked, "Where did Zac actually go?"

Marty raised both arms into the air. "I have no idea."

Before he could say anything else, Adrian spoke. "Maybe he gave up. You know, losing finally embarrassed him enough to drop out or something."

"Oh, wouldn’t you love that?" Marty snorted. "And let’s not forget, you didn’t even make it to the semifinals. God, I’d love to see that face you had back then again."

"You are insufferable, Marty. Don’t you know how to address a superior being like me?"

Before the conversation could escalate into a confrontation, Kelly frowned. "Don’t talk about him when he isn’t here."

"I was just saying..." Adrian barely got the words out before Kelly cut him off.

"He’s our friend, Adrian. He’ll be back." She then turned toward Sabrina. "What do you think, Snow?"

Sabrina, who was already picking up her things, glanced at them.

"Whatever."

With that, she started walking away from the group.

"Well, that was helpful," Shobin said. He then turned toward Marty. "You really don’t know where he went?"

"Well, I do know, but not entirely," he said; he was meeting with some kind of blacksmith."

Adrian immediately looked at him. "A new weapon?"

"Of course. Don’t your superior brains know that blacksmiths create weapons?"

Adrian frowned, clearly unimpressed by the sarcasm.

Shobin seemed to think about it for a moment and asked. "But a week seems a little long for commissioning a weapon."

Marty struck again. "Well, as someone who’s been around him for a long time, let me say this: at this point, nothing is ever normal with him."

Nobody had an answer to that.

Then suddenly,

Grrrrrlll...

The sound cut through the conversation, and everyone turned toward Marty.

Adrian immediately looked scandalized. "Such preposterous behavior. Don’t you know how to conduct yourself with elegance, you lowly mortal?"

Marty placed a hand over his stomach and rubbed it. "Sorry, Mr. Immortal, but we humans do need to indulge in food every now and then."

He then looked toward the others. "So, who wants lunch?"

"Me. I’m starving after training," Kelly immediately said.

"I’ll come too," Shobin added. "I have something important to read this evening, so I can’t get out. Let me have my fill right now."

"Well, it’s only natural that someone as superior as me should watch over you mortals. So I shall accompany you as well."

"Let’s just say the beginner’s food has something delicious today." Saying that, Daniel started walking with the others.

Marty immediately followed. "Well, it would be even more delicious if you sponsored it."

Daniel stopped and looked at him. "Why is it always me? Yesterday too, I’m the one who sponsored it."

Marty immediately fired back, "Who asked you to be born into a filthy rich family?"

The group burst out laughing as they continued walking toward the beginner’s food.